How long take broken ribs to heal?

Breaking your ribs can be a real pain in the chest. Not only is it excruciatingly painful, but it also limits your movement and affects your breathing. So, how long does it take for broken ribs to heal? Let’s get cracking on this topic and find out!

What causes Rib Injuries?

Before we stretch too far ahead in discovering the healing time of Broken Ribs (Spoiler Alert – It all depends!), let us rewind back to understanding what causes these kinds of injuries.

Broken or fractured rib bones primarily result due to blunt trauma and external forces that put immense pressure on the chest area making them susceptible. Embarking more than required stress while lifting weights or indulging in high contact sports such as football, rugby (or maybe just repeatedly attempting Parkour without actual practice!), leading you falling out quite literally! Chronic coughs (as signalled by smoking) are another significant factor leading you down this road.

Other symptoms include stabbing chest pains which worsen when patients attempt deep breathing or even movements like bending over / laughing! It’s usually visible through extensive bruising accompanied by discomfort around this entire region of injury.

On most occasions (as sadistic as it sounds), X-rays aren’t conducted since they don’t change medical treatments prescribed anyhow.

How Long does Healing Take?

Now that we know what broke our precious chests; let’s move forward with curiousness starring at guessing timespans guiding towards the journey back from “The Mission to Heal”.

First Four Weeks

During the first four weeks post-injury, doctors recommend rest and limited physical activity (we all love sofas hence excuse accepted!). Our bodies are equipped with mechanisms to make up for those times where adequate rest temporarily ceases metabolic activities. At times accident/s may cause further small ruptures/abrasions thus progressing medically allotted timelines.

This is vital so that vulnerable rib bones can grow uninterruptedly, which aids in proper healing. External factors such as lifestyle (or lack thereof) might delay or even prevent this process from happening.

In these case medical professionals prescribe pain killers and anti-inflammatory medication so that patients are more relaxed.

However – Pro tip: If there is agonizing pain at the time of injury, it’s preferable to consult a specialist before taking OTC medications

Weeks 5 – 8

By now we start seeing signs of progress (yay). Patients may notice pain beginning to lessen, and discomfort levels will gradually decrease. During a follow-up examination with their doctor, they evaluate if each mechanism has been functioning correctly thus indicating an estimated timeline for things happening ahead.

At this stage some mild physical activities using slow careful movements including breathing exercises (yes breathe) arranged by physiotherapists under doctor supervision happen. These simulate your systems relaxing while pushing past limitations previous range allowed on surface levels.

Week 9 onwards

After two solid months (Interesting Fun Fact!: The Oscars nominations period raises laughter amongst serious flicks apart from its usual self-knowing disposition), our system has gained momentum towards healing (Some individuals maybe yearning to make Rambo look like Nancy Drew alas hard luck!)

At this point the bone/s have nearly healed entirely but results in fatigue/ soreness most likely sticking around until about month four mainly due to muscle stress upon restretching post placing pressure whilst experiencing vulnerability/impaired (Chock-fulla’s notes: A totally “medically sophisticated” way of saying “Ouch!”)

Wrapping up

Our systems vary hence timelines don’t possess set patterns following every instance alike. Although broken ribs might seem excruciating – Unlike fashion trends (thankfully!) – is something you’ll never want back after giving enough patience guided management through Doctor and Physiotherapist. It’s best to buffer the healing period with complete rest, anti-inflammatory/pain relief medication and therapist supervised breathing techniques.

Sensing a sigh of relief? Hold up, we aren’t done yet! Medical opinions weigh more favourably in certain cases (Looks at extreme athletes). Hence it’s imperative not to rely entirely on data from these online pieces if serious doubt remains haunting you.

The only thing left now is for patients whilst recuperating during this time; To behold future logic over taking risks regarding movement guiding themselves towards minimal discomfort along with letting time do its freaking job already– After all Nobody else is going to make sure they heal – except themselves.

Dane Raynor

Hey there, I’m Dane Raynor, and I’m all about sharing fascinating knowledge, news, and hot topics. I’m passionate about learning and have a knack for simplifying complex ideas. Let’s explore together!